


Line without a hook

by oikawalovebot



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Humor, Angst and Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Final Haikyuu Quest, Fluff and Angst, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:08:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28210692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oikawalovebot/pseuds/oikawalovebot
Summary: “Oh baby, I am a wreck when I’m without you.”In which Takahashi Nakano is hopelessly in love with her best friend, Miya Atsumu.[ slowburn. ][ ongoing. ]
Relationships: Haikyuu!! Ensemble/Reader, Miya Atsumu & Inarizaki Volleyball Club, Miya Atsumu & Original Character(s), Miya Atsumu/Original Female Character(s), Miya Atsumu/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I absolutely adore Miya Atsumu and I hardly see any fanfictions solely dedicated to him so i thought I'd just write one myself. This is my first book here, but, yeah, I hope it's alright. Also it has a slow start but I promise a lot of fluff, angst, and possibly an intense smut scene if the storyline permits :p anyway, hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

Takahashi Nakano could not care less about what her History teacher was blabbering about. The sun was peaking brightly through the window, as the petals of the gorgeous sakura tree standing right outside flew with the direction of the wind. She moved her light brown strands away from her face as she admired the view in front of her, before looking down at her rough notebook filled with guitar chords, song lyrics and random, not to mention weird, doodles. Her fingers glazed upon the doodles before she picked out pencil from her pencil case and drew hearts all around the page. It did not, by any means, look cute, more like mere scribblings similar to those of a five year old. She huffed in boredom, her pink lips parting. She looked around the class, hoping something interesting would happen on the first day of her second year here, at Inarizaki High, but she was hardly fazed by anything or anyone. 

Or Maybe, there was one person who could snatch the sleep right out of her. The one person who could take her breath away with a simple smile, or that all too familiar glint of amusement in his eyes, or his shabby blonde hair sticking out in all directions first thing in the morning. He was one of the few people who kept her from skipping classes altogether, which could be considered unhealthy, but obviously, she did not seem to care. Even his slightest gestures or words could affect her mood, which she knew was not, in any way, right and she should probably not make him the centre of her personality, but she was way too deep in this mess to now get out of it. 

She had known the Miya twins ever since the fifth grade. Ever since she had mistaken the volleyball club with the music club because of her sheer clumsiness, and ended up getting hit right in the face with a volleyball. She would have been feral if she had not gazed into Miya Atsumu's soft, round eyes, then laced with worry. As if she would ever forget the day she met the one person who has any kind of hold over her. As if she could forget the day she met the boy who only proceeded to sweep her off of her feet as they became friends. Her feelings were way too obvious to everyone else but Atsumu himself, even his twin could tell how hopelessly head over heels the girl was for him. Miya Osamu never knew what she saw in him, how she managed to fall in love with someone as obnoxious as his brother, simply because he knew that Nakano was way too good for him. If it had not been for how incredibly platonic Osamu's and Nakano's relationship was, even as far to the point where he could call her his little sister, he would say that she was an ideal partner to have, with her gorgeous appearance and a chirpy personality, but that would be a pathetically odd situation to be a part of. 

Nakano on the other hand, was burning holes into the class door in hopes that it would somehow burst open to reveal the love of her life and his twin, only to blink back sleep and yawning again. Just as her head fell on the desk, her expectations came to reality as two identical boys stood in the doorway, panting and sweating. It was like the whole class seemed to be energised at the sight of them as they started loudly laughing at their tardiness, while the teacher rolled her eyes and looked at them angrily. Her attempts to control the class were of no clear use, because while the grey-haird Miya bowed with courtesy to apologise frantically, his twin had a glum, stupid smile plastered on his face enjoying the attention he was getting as the day began, making funny faces just for the class to roar. The teacher, distressed, rubbed her forehead as she banged her clipboard on her desk with a loud thud, immediately shutting down the entire class. Nakano's gaze was fixated on Miya Atsumu who seemed to not care about the teacher's piercing gaze, instead, he caught his best friend's sight and sent a wink with a smirk, a gesture that sent chills down her spine. She could not help but blush furiously as the heat rose up to her cheeks and she looked away, smiling. Sometimes, she simply hated how charming the blonde bastard was, and how anything he did would lead to an extreme reaction on her part. She loathed the impact he had on her, but she also cherished the rush of adrenaline that flowed through her blood when he looked at her, even though she knew he would never genuinely look at her in a different light. 

"Atsumu and Osamu. Outside. Right now." The teacher seemed to be more tedious than angry as she warily looked at the twins who showed up twenty minutes late to school, with her hands on her hips. Her tight-lipped smile was enough to show how mad she really was, which sent a cold shiver down every student's spine as they attempted to stifle their laughter at the famous Miya twins and their knack for getting into trouble even in their second year. Atsumu looked at Nakano with puppy dog eyes as if she could help him, but she helplessly and apologetically shrugged, wishing she could kiss him right there and then. Oh, how she wished she could do that. Just to feel his soft lips on hers, she would do anything for that moment. She mentally scolded herself for the lewd thoughts that had begun to spin their way into her mind, and looked down into her notebook, embarrassed. "The rest of you, read pages 132-140. I will be quizzing you on that after I come back. Don't you dare pull any antics while I'm gone," she warned, looking at the pupils with scary eyes. They gulped. "I will only be gone ten minutes while i deal with these goons." 

Shortly, the class erupted into whispers and chit-chat, blatantly ignoring the teacher's instructions. The pink-haired girl sitting right across from Nakano turned to her with a smug expression on her face. Haruki Yukimi was one of Nakano's closest friends beside the Miya twins, and possibly the only girl that Nakano could stand, simply because they had been neighbours since forever and shared a passion for music. Her closeness to the twins always put her in every girl's bad books, not that she seemed to care, because each confession made to those boys would only ever end up with a big fat rejection. It scared Nakano to think what would ever happen if she decided to make a move on Atsumu, even in her wildest dreams, but currently, she was just happy to be literally the only girl he paid attention to, even if it was purely platonic. After all, she could not complain about what she already had. 

"How do they always manage to get in trouble with Hanako Sensei? I swear, she hates their guts," Yukimi giggled, making Nakano chuckle a bit as well. The pink-haired girl was another individual who was extremely aware of Nakano's intense feelings for the blonde twin. She had always encouraged the girl to fess up, mainly because according to her, Nakano was a catch and any boy would die to be her boyfriend, but obviously Yukimi had a knack to exaggerate a situation. Yet, she was not wrong to some extent, because every boy who had ever confessed to the beautiful Nakano-chan, had faced nothing but terrible and bitter rejection. She did not even try to hide her disgust for any boy who was not Atsumu. Why should she go out with anybody else when she had the best deal right there? It was pathetic to even think about. "One of these days she's going to kick their asses." 

"That would be an interesting sight, not going to lie," the girl with light brown hair smiled, rolling her eyes. "They did save us, though. I was starting to think our first day of second year was already going to suck." 

"Yes, of course, your knight in shining armour," Yukimi dramatically posed with her hand on her forehead and a laughable expression. Amused, Nakano only shook her head in response, a blush rising to her cheeks. She wished she would not do that even at the mention of his name. "Which reminds me, are you planning to make a move anytime soon?"

"No! Yukimi-chan, how many times have I told you? I simply lack the balls to do it," she sighed, plopping her face onto her desk, groaning. "Besides, I don't really think he's interested in romantic relationships right now. You know how crazy he is about volleyball."

"I thought," Yukimi looked puzzled for a moment, "I thought he played basketball?"

Nakano bursted into fits of laughter at the girl's oblivious statement and ruffled her hair, while Yukimi just shot her a confused glare while shrugging. "You're confusing him with Suzuke-san, the third year." Her lips formed an 'o' shape at the realisation as she scratched the back of her neck, laughing. "Right. Speaking of which, he's gotten hotter after the break, hasn't he?"

Nakano continued doodling an electric guitar, similar to the one she currently owns, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. She gazed at the guitar chords of one of the random tunes stuck inside of her head since the past few weeks, simply pouting. Her gaze flickered to Yukimi who just mentioned Suzuke Ren, the star basketball athlete of Inarizaki High, and possibly one of the only boys who gave Miya Atsumu a run for his fame amongst girls. One would think he was mature enough to not compete with the blonde volleyball player when it came to popularity as a third year, now, but Suzuke Ren had his own unknown reasons. Nakano never really liked his personality all that much, mainly because he was a tad bit arrogant and intimidating due to his tall stature. She felt he was utterly obnoxious for eating up every ounce of attention he got, but then she was harshly reminded by Yukimi that her best friend was the exact same, the only differentiating factor being that he was a year younger to him. Nakano chose to ignore the fact. "I don't see it. He's the same to me." Her tone was nothing short of monotone as Yukimi sighed. "You shouldn't have rejected him, Nakano-chan. Any girl would die to be you!"

The girl simply rolled her eyes. Last year, the popular second year had asked her out in front of her three best friends as well as the entire school cafeteria, which absolutely stunned her as a first-year. It was not only a big deal that the star basketball player of Inarizaki High had proposed to her, but also the fact that he was her senpai, and any first year would have killed to be in Nakano's position. She remembered the expression of disgust on Atsumu's face and the expression of amusement on Osamu's face as he munched on his onigiris silently. Yukimi was attempting to stifle her laughter at Nakano's face. After gathering her senses and overcoming the feeling she was getting as everyone bored their eyes into her, including Atsumu, she respectfully declined the offer, slightly expressing her discomfort due to the impossible situation of embarrassment. She had simply bowed after muttering an ' _I'm sorry_ ,' and ran out of the cafeteria with Yukimi shortly following behind, because Nakano looked like she was about to explode with the amount of redness in her cheeks. 

"I'm sure," she responded sarcastically. Before her friend could say anything more, Hanako Sensei, their history teacher made her way inside the class, strutting with her high heels and the twins trailing shortly behind with tardy passes evident in their hands. Everyone stopped talking and returned to their desks hastily, as the twins held their head down trying not to directly make eye contact with any other kid because they _would_ laugh. Osamu made his way to the corner of the window, right behind Nakano while Atsumu filled the empty seat beside her. He sent a warm smile in her direction and she could not help but feel giddy inside, as she returned the smile. As the teacher resumed with her lesson, Nakano decided to tune her out and write down random lyrics plopping inside of her head at the mere sight of her favourite fake blonde. She smiled to herself, knowing her day was made the moment she saw him. 

Atsumu could not help but admire her side profile. Yet, he immediately looked away before his annoying twin brother could bug him about it later and quickly leaned further back into his chair. It was going to be a long first day.


	2. Chapter 2

After a few long and boring lectures, it was finally lunch time. Atsumu and Nakano were the first ones to spring right out of their seats as Yukimi and Osamu simply shrugged hopelessly at the two. It was strange to them how those two had so many similarities yet could not be more different than each other. The two shortly followed behind in silence, mostly because Osamu was busy being half asleep as he walked beside Yukimi, almost like a zombie. Before he could protest, she had already snapped a picture of him in that state and began giggling at how she was going to use it to blackmail the living hell out of the grey-haired dork later on in the year. His face grew a tick of annoyance as he attempted to snatch her phone the moment she did so, but ended up failing miserably as he groaned at the pink-haired girl. He glared down at her, and the situation was funnier when one noticed the height difference between them. Yukimi was fairly short, and was often laughed at because of it, but her feisty attitude did more than just make up for her lack of inches. Osamu was the biggest orchestrator of short girl jokes and Yukimi loathed him for it. 

Meanwhile, Atsumu's arm was slung around Nakano's shoulders, whose face was a blushing mess evident to everyone who passed them in the hallway except Atsumu himself, and she thanked the lord for it. She received a few dirty looks from girls and boys alike, but her choice to ignore those looks was her best bet at not being overwhelmed. "I love doing this because whenever these boys see me this close to you, they look like they want to kill me," The fake blonde's gruff voice spoke, as Nakano's head snapped to his direction with wide eyes before she shook her head. "Not nearly as terrifying as your fangirls who seem to want to eat me for lunch and rip my hair out," the girl rolled her eyes, huffing out a breath. Before Atsumu could retort with a lewd comment, she stopped him, "I did not mean anything lewd by that. I swear I hate you and your perverted mind." The boy looked at her defensively, his mouth agape at the assumption. 

"I did not even say anything!" He reasoned but Nakano just rolled her eyes in response. "I sensed it. You're way too predictable and simpleminded at times."

Atsumu wordlessly pinched her cheeks tightly making her wince in pain as she groaned out loud, elbowing him in his side. "Your elbows are pointy, and they hurt, Nakano-chan! You know I can be sensitive at times!" He yelled, pulling her cheeks again as the two started to physically fight right outside the cafeteria. Everyone was laughing at them, whilst Yukimi and Osamu just stared at them from a distance warily. Osamu spoke, "I don't know him."

"He literally looks like you, though," Yukimi stated the obvious fact, earning a bonk to the head as she winced, "Hey!"

The four of them walked towards their usual lunch spot, where two familiar people were already seated. At the sight of Atsumu and Nakano still attempting to tickle each other, they sighed. Suna Rintarou and Ojiro Aran were as wary of the duo as Osamu and Yukimi were. The two belonged to Inarizaki's volleyball team, and had grown to be quite close with Yukimi and Nakano through the twins, during their first year of high school. Suna, with his foxy green eyes and shabby hair, always looked tired of every situation he encountered. He was quite aloof compared to his teammates, and mostly kept to himself so as to not engage in unnecessary conversations. Yukimi would be lying if she said she did not find him a tad bit attractive when she was first introduced to him, but she soon found out that he was probably not her type. They never explicitly interacted, mostly because he was intimidating and looked like he was staring right through someone's soul and judging them thoroughly, and she hated being over analysed. Also, he looked like he was high a majority of the time. Ojiro Aran on the other hand, was as warm as they come. He was like the big brother that Yukimi and Nakano never had, and was probably the sweetest one out of the lot. He found Atsumu and Nakano's friendship slightly amusing, and even had the impression that the two were dating at some point, but was proved wrong when he found out from Yukimi that it was most likely one sided. He wondered if it really was one sided, though. The two seemed perfect for each other, because Atsumu's problematic and challenging personality could be easily handled by Nakano's rational and happy persona. She knew how to keep him in check, but at the same time, she could be as crazy as he was. It was scary. 

"Oi, you two, stop already!" Yukimi yelled, rolling her eyes. The two followed, taking a seat next to each other and casually taking out their lunch box as if they weren't trying to rip each other's arms out just a few second ago. Osamu simply sighed, and tuned himself out, focusing on the onigiris he made for himself. He slapped Yukimi's hand away when she attempted to steal one of them. "You're mean, Osamu-kun," she groaned, pinching his hand as he rolled his eyes at her in response. Suna smirked at the two bickering and proceeded to eat his bento wordlessly. 

"Also, Nakano-chan, how's your song coming along? We have to start practicing, the music inter-highs start in like, three weeks," Yukimi clumsily spoke with food in her mouth, as Osamu eyed her, disgusted. Everyone else laughed at her face stuffed with Osamu's onigiri, which she managed to steal anyway, in spite the bickering. Nakano felt heat rising to her cheeks when she felt Atsumu turn to her, not knowing that every song she had ever written had been about him. Of course, that was the case. "I am going to need Yua-san's help. I don't know why she thought I was capable of writing an entire song by myself," the girl sighed, chewing on her milk bread. "Are you kidding? Your work is amazing," Yukimi stated. Nakano shrugged. "I don't know. I'll sort it out with her today, I guess."

"Oh!" Yukimi gasped at the reminder of the fourth member of the music club, as well as her long-standing crush and their band member, "Is Hiroki-san present today?" She gushed, twirling a strand of her hair and looking at Nakano with starry eyes which earned her a ruffle on her head. She smiled, knowing how much Yukimi admired Nakamura Hiroki. He was the real deal, after all. In fact, since he was a third-year, and an extremely handsome one at that, any girl was bound to fall in love with him. Any girl, except Nakano, of course. The only reason she was not completely creeped out by his existence was because of his respectful nature, kind attitude and the fact that he had never flirted with her or asked her out inappropriately. She appreciated the fact that he could keep it in his pants and have a platonic relationship with her, so she considered being civil with him and ended up in awe of his talent at drums, instead. He was excellent at drumming, and mostly kept to himself because of his shy personality. Of course, Yukimi wanted to throw herself at him as much as she could, and Nakano could see why. With his dusty grey hair, lighter than Osamu's, and beautiful, chocolate brown eyes, he had Yukimi wrapped around his little finger without even realising. 

"I don't know. We'll find out after school, won't we?" She smirked, teasingly as Aran chuckled at a red Yukimi. Osamu rolled his eyes, "Whatever, it's not like I care." Yukimi huffed and everyone at the table choked on their sarcastic laughter, silently making fun of the pink-haired girl as she hit Osamu's arm. "Ow! What was that for!" Osamu yelled, ruffling her hair aggressively as she attempted to shake his hand away from her head. As the two began their banter again, Atsumu turned to the beautiful girl he called his best friend, who was sitting right next to him. 

"I want to hear some of your songs one of these days, Nakano-chan! After hearing Yukimi gush about your lyrics all the time, I want to hear it too!" The fake blonde's puppy dog eyes made an appearance once again, his soft voice doing more than enough to make her heart skip a beat. She hated it when his face looked like it did right now, because she wanted to do nothing short of grabbing his face and planting kisses all over it. It was good that she had immense self control. "They're not that great," she cleared her throat, looking away. "You know how much Yukimi likes to make a big deal out of nothing." He squinted at the girl, not buying it, simply because he knew how good Nakano was when it came to music. He would say that she's naturally talented, and her voice was as sweet as honey. He remembered the first time he heard her sing, and he'd been in love with her voice ever since, so far to the point where he could listen to her sing over and over again without growing tired. She was exceptionally good at playing the guitar too, her fingers were always chipped and had marks on them, being the biggest proof of the fact that practicing her skills at playing the instrument was all she did during her free time. Hence, he automatically assumed that she would be just as talented, if not more, when it came to writing original songs. He had faith in how crazily gifted she was. He would even go as far as admitting that she was as musically talented as he was at volleyball.

"Bullshit. You're going to sing thr original song for me once you're done writing it, and that's that." 

"Don't tell me what to do, pissboy."

"YOU SWORE YOU WON'T CALL ME THAT AGAIN!" He yelled, however, his voice got drained out due to the commotion in the cafeteria. Everyone at the table erupted into fits of laughter as soon as the nickname rolled out of Nakano's lips. The one time she had called him that was when he had dyed his hair freshly, thinking he looked extremely charming and handsome, only to be shot down by his best friend whose first instinct was to compare the colour of his hair with... piss. He had thrown a fit, making her promise that she would not use that nickname again, after hours of her trying to convince him that she was only joking. On the inside, she was not actually joking, but she admitted that he looked handsome in almost any sort of look. Of course, she would never say that aloud. "Oops?" She simply smirked. "Oh, come on! Take a joke, 'Tsumu!" She aimed to ruffle his hair with her clean hand but when he swatted it away, she lightly punched his arm to which he dramatically winced in pain.

Suna stared at him with the same monotonous expression and spoke in a dead tone, "That's an interesting name. I like it." Atsumu flipped him off in disbelief as everyone else continued laughing away to glory. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually kind of imagined Jabami Yumeko while describing Yua, but how sexy would she look with piercings though holy crap. Anyway, sorry, the story is just beginning y'all. ;)

"I'm stuck."

Tanamaki Yua glared at the second year, almost squinting her eyes. She glanced at the pink-haired bassist flirting hopelessly with the shy drummer, and nearly rolled her eyes at the cheesy sight. The sun barely peaked through the windows of the room alloted to the music club because Suzuke had closed the drapes shut since he was the first to arrive. The tall third year had a scary expression on her face as she looked down at a guilty looking Nakano, with her arms folded against her chest. With one eyebrow raised, she stared harder at her junior and back down at her notebook with random lyrics sprawled out across the page alongside meaningless doodles. She sighed and her expression softened as she took a seat right across from her. With one swift motion, she swept her raven hair behind her ear and took the notebook out of Nakano's hand to read whatever she had managed to come up with. 

Yua was what someone would call; a goddess. With her long, raven hair draped around her west like a curtain, a seemingly perfect and curvy body, and a mole right beside her bottom lip, she was every boy's wet dream. Only recently, during the summer break, she had pierced her lower lip and right eyebrow, so now she looked sexier than before. She _looked_ like someone who was a part of a band. But as much as the boys craved her, Yua's interests were limited to women. She officially came out when she was in her second year, already tired of the meaningless confessions boys made to her, letting everyone know which way she actually swung. Much to her dismay, she was far too intimidating for any girl she asked out, most of whom were not explicitly sure about their sexual preferences. Nakano did not understand why anybody would reject her proposal for a date because she knew for a fact that if she liked girls, she would say yes in a heartbeat. But the fact that she looked up to Yua as her older sister made it awfully awkward for Nakano to admit it. 

"This is... less than what I expected you to come up with," her perfectly plump lips parted, her eyebrows furrowed, signalling that she was in deep thought. "But it's beautiful. I like it. It has a melancholy to it, which is something I wouldn't have expected out of you since you're this cute, little, happy bird all the time." The second year gasped with eyes wide, blushing right after. Yua seemed to be the only person beside Atsumu who could get her flustered with her words. "How are you stuck, exactly? If you could come up with this in like, three days, I'm assuming you could give me way more than this by the end of the day, or perhaps, tomorrow. Maybe," she was back to looking at her with the scary eyes, "You were just too lazy. Like always." Nakano earned a much deserved bonk to her head as she groaned. 

"You know why we're doing an original, right? It's because almost no one expects us to," Yua leaned back, cross-legged, the notebook still in her hands. "Also because even though Inarizaki High is quite a big name in itself, it's only because of the sports activities. When it comes to inter-high, there are schools way more musically talented than we are. If anything can get us through the excruciatingly strict preliminary round so that we can finally, after five years, be the school to represent the Hyogo prefecture at the End-Of-The-Spring concert, it's an original song." Nakano gulped.

Every student at every school always looked forward to attending the End-Of-The-Spring concert, which, pretty much as the name suggests, is held during spring break. It's more nerve-racking for the students who participate as musical guests, because it was a competition, and the winner got signed with deals from the best Universities in Japan to fill out the talent quotas. Administrative counsellors always showed up to these concerts, in efforts to only scout the best singers or musicians. It was an amazing opportunity, obviously, one which Nakano wanted to grasp. However, when she was a first year, their band could hardly get through the preliminary round and Himeji High ended up winning. Yua despised their school representatives, nothing but a bunch of arrogant and obnoxious boys who played around too much with their electric guitars. For the spectators and attendees, however, it was a mere concert to enjoy, and a lot of college kids also visited it. It was obviously the biggest event of the year, in Tokyo. Nakano shuddered with a newfound excitement to finally visit Tokyo and get a chance to perform in front of thousands of people in an actual auditorium. Eyeing her goofy yet motivated expression, Yua smirked and ruffled the junior's hair. 

"I'll help you. But if you want to get through the preliminaries next year, after I've graduated, you're gonna have to start writing songs on your own," Nakano's expression changed to a saddened one at the mention of Yua graduating and her eyes glistened, but Yua simply shrugged. "Come on, tell me. What inspired you to even start writing this?"

It's not like the third year did not know about Atsumu, Nakano's best friend, but what she did not know was how intensely far her feelings went for him. She nervously chuckled, scratching the back of her head. Yua squinted yet again at her shy demeanour, plopping her chin in her palm. Her eyes suddenly widened upon realisation, "Do _not_ tell me it's Ren. I thought you rejected him!"

Nakano cringed at the mention of his name. It was insulting that Yua associated these beautiful, meaningful lyrics to that arrogant bastard. "No! NO, NO AND NO!" 

"Thank god," Yua heaved a sigh of relief. She was another girl, possibly the only other girl aside from Nakano who had rejected the popular boy's proposal. It was a severe blow to his ego when he could not take her out, and even as far as a severe injury to his heart when even his junior had rejected him. However, with his fame, nobody really made fun of him for it, if anything, more girls wanted to go out with him now that they had less competition and the coast was absolutely clear. "Then who is it? I know for a fact that you're not romantic, considering all your rejections. Then where did all that," she gestured towards he lyrics, "Come from?" 

"Atsumu, who else," Yukimi, the pink-haired idiot who Nakano thought was minding her own business flirting with their senpai, suddenly decided to butt into their conversation. Hiroki tuned into the conversation at the mention of Atsumu's name. Of course, they did not know each other, but he had seen his volleyball games occasionally because of his little brother's enthusiasm in volleyball. The brown-haired girl's wide eyes snapped to her friend's direction, glaring at her for so carelessly spurting out her 'secret' to her seniors. She hit the back of Yukimi's neck as a response who dramatically winced in pain, "OW! What, I thought she already knew!" Yua was speechless, looking at the girl with a hint of amusement in her eyes. She knew there was surely something spurring between the two lovebirds considering how much they spent time together. Yet, she thought it was platonic because of the lack of PDA. Hiroki was stifling his laughter, covering his mouth with his drum sticks. "Yukimi, you _idiot_! What am I gonna do with you!" 

"I knew there was something going on between you two." Hiroki finally speaking, the three girls turning to look at him with surprise laced in their expressions as he hardly was ever a part of their casual conversations. Nakano gave him a nasty glare, folding her arms against her chest, cocking a brow. "Oh, so _now_ you decide to speak?"

Yukimi immediately jumped to his defence, "Nakano-chan, give your senpai some respect, stupid!"

She shrugged and bowed as an apology to which he shook his head, "No, no, we're friends, there's no need."

"That is so sweet, Hiroki-san!" The short girl exclaimed in a flirtatious tone and a smug grin plastered on her face while earning a bonk from Yua. "Why does everyone keep doing that?"

"You're so small. I could step on you," Nakano commented, smirking at her, but Yukimi jumped at her causing them both to fall down as the two groaned in pain while trying to strangle each other. "Nakano, if I didn't adore your mother and you weren't my best friend, I would kill you for that," Nakano squirmed against the short yet noisy girl on top of her who was somehow stronger than her. "You idiot, how are you going to kill me with those tiny hands of yours!" They groaned and yelled even louder while having a go at each other, stopped just after a few minutes as Yua pinched their ears and dragged them off the floor with one swift motion. They winced in pain, muttering a series of 'Oh's' and 'Ow's.' "You two are so simple-minded." Hiroki couldn't help but chuckle at his fellow third year's comment and the whole situation, really. He silently admitted to himself how it was slightly arousing watching two girls tackle each other to ground with one on top of the other, but he obviously kept that to himself. When Yua let go of their ears, she turned to Nakano. 

"Why didn't you tell me you were finally dating that pathetic volleyball player of yours!"

Nakano looked at her, offended. "Hey, he is _not_ pathetic! Also, we're not together! I just," She heaved a huge sigh, placing her right hand on her hip. She blushed furiously while looking to the ground and fidgeting with the hem of her skirt, biting her lower lip, "I just slightly like him, is all."

"Slightly?" Yua questioned, puzzled as she waved Nakano's notebook in front of her face. "You don't write lyrics like these if it's something as insignificant as what you're implying." 

"You're right, she's in _love_ with him," Yukimi wiggled her eyebrows and just as Nakano was about to tackle her to the ground yet again, everyone froze in their movements at an all too familiar voice right outside the club room with a puzzled tone. Yukimi stared at Nakano with wide eyes just as she stopped in the motion of punching the petite second year, Hiroki was hiding behind his drums already embarrassed at what was about to happen, Yua's wide gaze staring at nothing in particular. 

"In love with _whom_?"

The four members of the music club turned to look at the fake blonde, star volleyball player of Inarizaki High, standing outside the entrance in all his glory, looking at them with a cocked brow. His brother stood behind him, mirroring the same expression that the four of them had. _Busted_ , he thought to himself as he continued to munch on his granola bar. He recovered and stared at Nakano with amusement in his eyes, "Yeah, Naka-chan, who are you in love with?" He smirked, as she silently cursed him and telepathically told him to shut his trap because the nasty glare she shot his way did more than enough to communicate that message. She plastered a tight-lipped smile, letting go of Yukimi's collar and dusting off imaginary dust off of her school skirt, clearing her throat. "Nobody. They're just teasing. I'm not in love with _anyone_ ," She chuckled nervously and humourlessly, clearing her throat a few times in a row as she did so, "And I mean, no one." Her gaze darted towards the clock, thanking the god internally that the club hours were over and she could finally go home and crawl into her bed, wishing she could disappear, but the fact that the twins walked her and Yukimi home did not help her cause. And the fact that Yukimi was annoying when it came to lying, made the situation worse. She hoped that the tiny girl would just keep her mouth shut and let her best friend do the talking.

"Alright!" She clapped her hands together, awkwardly, in attempts to lighten up the tension, as she took the notebook out of Yua's hands, stuffed it in her school bag, and neatly placed her guitar in her guitar case as she held her small bag in one hand and slung the guitar case over her shoulder. "Time to go!" she laughed, lightly, taking Yukimi's hand and strutting out of the club wordlessly as a signal for the twins to shortly follow them, "I'll see you tomorrow, Yua senpai! I'll work on the song today." With one last goodbye smile, she heaved a sigh knowing that her best friend was not going to let this go until she gave him a definite answer. Maybe, in a perfect world, he would mind his business. But this was _not_ that world.

As the four of them walked out of the school premises, Nakano still nervously clutching onto Yukimi's hand who could just give her a reassuring squeeze, Atsumu had the same annoyingly curious and puzzled expression on his stupidly gorgeous face. The brown-haired girl wanted to smack him and give him a peck on the lips at the same time. "So," he spoke much to her dismay, "Who is this person they were teasing you with? You never told _me_ about this secret crush," he looked almost annoyed, for some reason. But she did not dare look at his face. "Is it that jerk, Ren? Please tell me it wasn't, Naka-chan." He looked disgusted. Osamu raised a brow. He looked at Yukimi, who seemed to be mirroring his expressions and he could only assume she was thinking the same thing he was. _He almost sounds jealous_ , they thought at once. _Are you thinking what I'm thinking?_ Yukimi sneaked a glance at Osamu. "I thought you rejected him already!" he scoffed. 

Nakano wanted to deny. She hated Ren's stupid guts as much as he did, and she did not want Atsumu to think she was pathetic for stooping so low as to harbouring a crush on the basketball player. She would never think of any other boy in a different light and was subconsciously loyal to her best friend, even though she had no reason to be. But for some reason, some weird and odd reason, without a second of rational thinking, she stupidly blurted out the one thing she wanted to avoid saying. The one thing she did not want Atsumu to assume. Everyone stared at her, hoping for a response. 

"Yes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all are going to get some crack in this story soon, things are just getting all spicy.


	4. Chapter 4

“Yes.”

Everyone stared at the brown-haired junior with a dumbfounded look on their faces. The girl herself looked absolutely flushed out of colour, and had no idea what ghostly being had possessed her in that moment to give this answer. Yukimi gulped rather loudly. She was boring holes into Nakano’s head as if it was going to explode in the next second. Her nails were silently, steadily digging into her arms as a warning. All four of them had stopped dead in their tracks, only three of them knowing how differently Nakano actually felt. The grey-haired twin had stopped eating his onigiri, with his mouth agape and the half-eaten rice ball resting on his tongue. The sun was glaring down at them, and Nakano already felt drained. Boy, had it been a long day. 

Meanwhile, Atsumu had his mouth hung wide open. Was he mad? Yes. Was this going to bother him a whole lot than it was supposed to? Sure. Was he doing the thing he does when he gets upset where fumes visibly burst out of his ears and his eyes go all crazy? Absolutely. He was not sure how to respond to it because he assumed it was just a joke. Or, perhaps someone else. It was more irritating considering the fact that he loathed Suzuke Ren deeply. Even though he was the most popular boy in school, sharing the rank with Atsumu himself, and his senpai, he had an obnoxious personality and a loud mouth. What infuriated him even further was his tendency to turn into a sweet puppy dog in front of the girls he wanted to impress, while acting pathetically cool in front of the boys who looked up to him. He knew it was all nothing but a huge act, being all nice, because he knew the guy had deep seated issues and was almost sure that he was hiding some deep, dark secret.   
  


“ _What_?” It was hard for Osamu to not laugh at his brother’s face and this whole situation really. He resumed taking a bite out of his riceball wordlessly before eyeing Yukimi, who returned his expression with a scowl asking him mentally to take it more seriously. He couldn’t be bothered. “You’re kidding, right? Please tell me this is one of your stupid jokes that I don’t get.” 

“I’m not.” Nakano deadpanned. Why had she done this? Why did she think this was a good idea? Probably to get Atsumu to shut up. Or make him a tad bit jealous. Who knows? The girl would always have some surprise up her sleeve, and was probably unpredictable yet a simpleton at the same time. Did she want to go ahead with this? She knew Atsumu would never share this with anyone, but she wanted to get a reaction out of him. She lacked the balls to admit that it was not Ren, it was him, but the least she could do was have fun. It was harmless, right? It’s not like something was going to happen. Right?

”B-but you rejected him. In front of everyone, probably the whole school. What the hell are you talking about, ‘ _love_ ’? Are you crazy?” The fake blonde babbled mindlessly. The four had resumed their walking. “Why is it crazy? He’s the most popular guy at school. Also, I rejected him because I was a lost first year and I didn’t know him all that well.” 

“Oh, so you know him now? I’ve never seen you two exchange words before. The most you’ve interacted is roll your eyes at him when he winked at you.” 

Nakano turned to him, irritated now. “What does it even matter? He’s handsome, tall, a basketball player. What more can a girl ask for? If you ask any junior if they had a crush on him, they’d probably say yes.” 

“He’s an asshole. I know I’m supposed to respect my senpais, but he’s literally an asshole. I thought you already knew that.” 

“Maybe he is. It’s just a crush. Can we end this conversation now, please? Thank you.” Her tone was short. 

“What made you change your opinion of him?”

“Nothing. It was just that I hadn’t really noticed him before. Then I slowly started to. I kept it to myself because I already rejected him. What is so hard to grasp?” A tick had grown on her forehead as she continued asking his stupid questions. She had only done this so he would stop questioning her feelings. But it was proving to be quite troublesome now. 

“It’s just weird. He’s not even that good at basketball.”

”That is so not true.”

“How do you know? Have you been to his games before?” 

Their two companions preferred walking behind them now in hopes that they would be left out of the conversation. They kept exchanging side glances, knowing this was going to turn into an argument. 

“I’ve seen him play once. He’s decent. Now, can we drop this subject, please?” 

“Fine,” he huffed, shoving his hands into his pockets. He made his annoyance perfectly clear as he kept sighing and scoffing every two minutes. Nakano had folded her arms against her chest, looking everywhere else but the love of her life himself. “It’s not a big deal, ‘Tsumu.” 

“You didn’t even tell me. You usually tell me everything.”

” _That’s_ what you’re mad about?” She eyed the blonde now. She was hoping that he would probably get too angry and admit he likes her, but that was her wishful thinking speaking. In all honesty, she didn’t know what to expect. She wanted some kind of signal that indicated that the boy reciprocated her hidden feelings. His annoyance could be one, but now that she thought about it, it could also be due to the fact that she didn’t share this with him like best friends usually do, so it could be pointless. She sighed at the realisation. “Well, y-yeah! I mean, I’m shocked. And upset that you didn’t tell me this sooner. But if you’re actually serious, then whatever. I can’t talk you out of your feelings.” 

“I’m sorry.” This is so embarrassing. She hated how he was just ‘fine’ with her being in love with somebody else. If he hadn’t already confirmed how completely platonic their friendship was before, he had done it now. Did it hurt? Yes. Was Nakano going to try and move on? Maybe not. Yukimi felt a pang in her chest, feeling slightly hurt on behalf of Nakano, because she knew what the girl would be thinking and feeling as of now. Osamu looked bored, but internally, he felt slightly sorry for her too. However, he couldn’t help but question his brother’s reaction. It was normal for him to get annoyed at his teammates when they couldn’t score off of his sets, or when he screwed up, but he would always imagine him being pretty cool about anything that was not volleyball related. It was something to think about. Osamu debated asking his brother about it. 

“Are you going to... confess to him?” Atsumu spoke up again, his eyebrows still furrowed together and his face looking at his feet as he walked. He hoped for her to say no. He didn’t know why. But any boy would jump at the chance of asking his best friend out if she showed them even a slice of her interest, and while that thought alone made him upset, he couldn’t imagine what he would feel it was Ren she went out with out of everyone else. 

“Y-Yes! She told me she will!” This time it was not Nakano who spoke, it was the short, pink-haired girl who did. The two best friends stopped short in their tracks. Their expressions were funny. Atsumu looked like his facial features had simply disappeared, and Nakano had her eyes so wide it looked like her eyeballs would fall right off. Osamu could not help but giggle. Things were getting interesting now. 

“I am?”

”What?” 

The two spoke in unison, looking at each other, hesitant. Yukimi had a confident look on her face and a smug grin that Nakano wanted to wipe right off this second. She didn’t know what her friend was playing at, but she definitely was not hoping to play along with this any longer than she had to. What was she doing? 

“Yes, you are, _remember_?” She raised her eyebrows as she spoke. “You told me when we were walking to the music room? I told you that it was a good idea and you agreed?” The girl continued weaving her web of lies. This was not going the way Nakano had planned. No, this was worse. Knowing Atsumu, she knew he would encourage her to do it, now that he knows her intentions. Her heart was racing with anxiety, as she buried her face in her hands. “That’s funny. I-I forgot.” She played it off, rubbing the back of her face. But she knew that whenever Yukimi lied, she always had to play along. It was an unspoken rule. 

“Naka-chan...” Atsumu was speechless. This was the biggest shock he’d received today. He hoped it was all a big prank. But looking at the signs and how the situation was heading, he didn’t see how this was a good prank. He looked at Nakano, hoping she would burst out laughing, or something that would ease him into believing her insane joke, but she stayed still, her cheeks red. He wanted to punch a wall. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt a little upset. It was stupid. He should be happy for his best friend. Maybe it was his hatred for Ren that annoyed him. Maybe it was because Ren would try to cut him out of Nakano’s life if they ever got together. Maybe it was because he preferred Nakano’s undivided attention and having her to himself. He was just upset. But evidently, he did a pretty good job at hiding it. He cleared his throat and simply shrugged in response. 

“Let me know how it goes then.” He simply stated, resuming his walking as everyone followed. Nakano was fighting back the urge to slap Yukimi, say it was all a prank and just hug her best friend and tell him it’s him, but she couldn’t form the right words to say it. The rest of the walk home was painfully silent, and the girl wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear forever. It was not just the fact that his reaction had little to no emotion, rather, he did not seem to care, it was also that now he thought her heart belonged to someone else. Now, the thin thread of that hope she had of them ever getting together in a romantic way, was cut to shreds. She wished she’d just played it off as a joke. She wished she hadn’t lied. She hated that his reaction was not what she wanted. She hoped everyone would simply forget about this. But she still smiled. She wanted to hide her annoyance and hurt, so she laughed. 

“Sure, if I somehow muster up the balls to do it.” 


	5. Chapter 5

The rest of the week was pretty awkward. To a normal person, it was nothing out of the ordinary. But Nakano could feel the sheer awkwardness radiating between her and her best friend, who also happened to be the one boy she was madly in love with. He hadn’t been texting her as much as he usually did, and his replies to her consisted of about one or two words every time she tried to make conversation. Hell, his brother was being more talkative with her, which was usually not the case, like, ever. She knew Atsumu was upset about not being the first person she confided in about her feelings for another boy, but she was starting to grow even more restless and annoyed as each day past. What was she supposed to say to him? That _he_ was the one she really loved? That she couldn’t ever stand the thought of not considering him her confidante. They’d told each other everything ever since fifth grade. Well, she could see now why he would be angry over something this trivial. But a little part of her hoped it was something more than that. She knew that was just her wishful thinking. But she still couldn’t stand his unusual behaviour. 

Takahashi had other things on her plate. For instance, with Yua’s help, she’d completed writing the song. Of course, her feelings for Atsumu had inspired a great part of it, and the fact that he was growing distant made her write more about unrequited love. She hated that she was going through this but at least something good came out of it. But she wasn’t her usual chirpy, driven self. She was out of it and everyone around her could sense how off her energy was. Yukimi had tried to get her to cheer up a bit, and it was unbearable to see her this way. The pink-haired girl had to do something. She’d also decided that she’d seen enough of her sulking around for a boy who would never reciprocate her feelings. She’d always been for the idea of her moving on from her best friend, she knew it was a dead-end situation, and this week had been the tip of the iceberg for her tolerance. Which is why, as the second week of their second year began, she’d decided that this was going to be the year where the two enjoyed, experienced different boys, and she was going to get Nakano to finally get over her infatuation with her best friend. 

She knew she was probably going to get beaten up by Nakano if she spoke about her ‘plan’ as she described it to Osamu and Aran, but it was worth a shot. Which is why, the best way she could avoid Nakano running away from the situation was for it to happen during lunch with her precious best friend around. Everyone was joking around, poking fun at Atsumu who didn’t respond with any wisecracks or irritation in particular and simply stirred his ramen absentmindedly — kind of how it was the past week — while Takahashi simply fake smiled at whatever banter Osamu and Yukimi had engaged in. 

The pink-haired girl had gathered up the courage to head to the third year’s floor, looking specifically for Suzuke Ren. He had been shocked and smirked at a girl approaching him as usual, assuming it was another confession he was going to have to decide whether to reject or accept since he wasn’t into petite girls specifically, but her unbothered attitude confused him, and the fact that she boldly took his hand and they headed outside his classroom. He looked at her with puzzled eyes as she let go of his hand. 

“Do you still like Takahashi?” Her tone was blunt and she was not beating around the bush or aiming for small talk. He chuckled, still confused. “What?”

“You know, the first year who rejected you last year.” She said in a matter-of-factly tone, not aiming to offend the third year, but doing so obliviously. Irritated, he clicked his tongue, “I know who you’re talking about. And even if I did, why would I tell you? What’s this about, anyway? I have things to do, you know.”

“Like what? Getting rejected by second years and bathe in self obsession?” 

“ _Hey_!” He looked slightly offended, but seeing as he towered over his junior, he couldn’t help but find it funny. There was truth to her response. “What do you want?”

“If you like Takahashi, I want you to ask her out again.” 

“No can do. She broke my heart pretty bad.”

“It’s been a year, you wuss.” Yukimi rolled her eyes and Ren furrowed his eyebrows, his mouth wide. “Shouldn’t you be showing your third year some respect, little girl? Who even are you?”

“Yukimi. And I’d like to keep this short. Do you want to be her boyfriend or not?” 

“I mean,” his eyes flickered to nowhere in particular, recollecting Nakano’s beautiful appearance in his head. She had grown a lot since last year. Be it in terms of confidence or looks. She had curves in all the right places, and she had grown her hair out past her shoulders. She was more gorgeous than the first time Ren saw her, anyway. He had still hoped that he could go out with her at least once before he graduated, but she ensured that he knew he disgusted her, and he hated that. He wondered if she likes girls, but his friends had made him realised his self obsession was going too far to assume that. She had intrigued him by rejecting him, and he would’ve pursued her if she hadn’t gone to great lengths just to avoid him. He didn’t want to waste his time. But now, an opportunity had knocked right on his door. “Sure, I’d like to go out with her. But shouldn’t she ask me this herself? What are you, her _assistant_?”

She gave him a scowl. “I’m her best friend, and I know she’s not going to listen to me if I ask her to finally go out with someone. It’s a complicated situation. She likes this guy and I know he doesn’t look at her that way. But I’m not going to tell you who it is or give you more information about this,” he blinked, as the question was right on the tip of his tongue. “But there is one way she’ll say yes to you no matter what.” 

And there they were, in the cafeteria. Osamu let Yukimi know that he was not going to save her from Takahashi’s wrath if things went wrong, but the girl assured him he wouldn’t have to, saying that she’d ‘taken care of everything.’ Now she was invested in this mission to get her over her best friend. It was essential. This was the perfect plan. Sure, things could go south, but now, at least Nakano would realise there are better people out there, and this could finally spice her life up. She wasn’t letting her second year being drowned out behind Atsumu. Her first year had already been filled with him. 

Nakano absentmindedly ate her onigiris, not really being a part of any conversation, much like Atsumu who sat beside her on his usual spot. She didn’t notice when the raven-haired basketball player had made his way to her table, a charming smile plastered on his face and his hands shoved in his pockets. Aran shoved Yukimi’s arm to signal her of the boy’s presence, snatching her attention towards what was about to happen. Suna squinted at the third year, but continued eating his bentos wordlessly like he always did. 

“Oi, Takahashi,” the boy called out, snapping her out of her daze. Her bored expression turned into furrowed eyebrows and a frown. She looked at Yukimi for help, but she was pretending to be very interested in something Aran was blabbering about. She hastily got up, dusting off her skirt and looking at Atsumu, who mirrored her frown. He set his chopsticks down, clearly shooting death glares at Ren, whose eyes were fixated on the brown haired junior. He walked to her side of the table and stood right in front of her. People were starting to avert their gazes at her table, whispering to their friends, excited about the third year approaching the girl once more. “I know you declined my offer last time, but,” he addressed the awkwardness flowing in the cafeteria already, as he cleared his throat, “Do you want to go out with me sometime? If you gave me a shot, I promise you wouldn’t regret it.” 

Nakano was dumbfounded. With her mouth agape, she was at a loss of words. Osamu and Suna exchanged amused glances, the grey-haired twin finally seeing the plan in motion. He finally understood how Yukimi managed to make this happen. He knew that if Nakano declined again, Atsumu would raise questions. And if she agreed, in front of everyone, she would have to keep true to her word. He wanted to chuckle at her helpless situation, but he stifled it. She looked around at girls whispering and boys clicking their tongues. She heard a few of them gasp in shock, placing their bets on what her response was going to be this time. Then, she looked at Atsumu.

He looked like he was going to kill someone. He was now aggressively holding his chopsticks to the point where she swore he would break them. But she knew that if she said no, he would question her about why she did so in spite of her ‘crush’ on Ren. He would start asking her if she was lying the first time, and it would invite another set of awkward encounters. Whereas, if she said yes, she would have to go out with the third year out of decency and respect. Everyone hushed, patiently waiting for her response. 

“I...” her voice trailed off, staring at Ren with her big round eyes that he adored. She heaved a long sigh. She internally groaned at her response. A part of her wanted to say yes, and accept his offer, since Atsumu hadn’t been talking to her as much and was trying to shut her out for some reason, and she was annoyed at him for it. A part of her wanted to disappear. Another part of her finally wanted to confess her true feelings. She found herself flustered as she spoke her next words, “I would love to.” 

“Fuck yes,” he grinned victoriously but quickly covered it up with a charming smile he flashed at the girl before him. “I mean, how does Friday sound? After school?” 

“Yeah, it’s fine.” She sighed, wanting the interaction to finish already. He winked at her which made her groan internally, as he walked away. 

_What have I gotten myself into?_ She thought quietly to herself. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the chapters are short but that’s how I want to keep this story for now lol. I swear when there’s more stuff happening the chapters will be longer! For now I just want to build a little on their friendship and a little bit of fluff, hehe.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Were the only words that left Atsumu’s mouth after Suzuke showed himself out of the cafeteria, laughing with his friends, a look of triumph on his face. It was bad enough that he was kept under the dark about his best friend’s crush, and on top of it, out of everyone Takahashi could have chosen, it had to be this one guy. Atsumu was the only one who did not glance at her, or high-five her at the whole ordeal. She noticed it, and was somewhat relieved to see a scowl on his pretty features. It’s the same feeling she felt when Atsumu would flirt meaninglessly with girls he had no intentions of dating. On the other hand, she hoped he would just forget about it and pay it no attention, resuming his friendship with the girl because it was tiring, dealing with one of his moods. He scoffed, angrily finishing his ramen and walking out of the cafeteria himself. Nakano was obviously the first one who noticed, trailing behind shortly, her mouth half stuffed with a bento Suna lent her. She didn’t want him this upset over nothing. It was just going to be one date after all. Not like she had any intentions of ever speaking to Ren ever again. She was still shocked that he even thought of asking her out yet again, and wondered if he was ever afraid of rejection, but these thoughts snapped away when Atsumu halted right outside the cafeteria in the hallway which was still empty because recess wasn’t over yet. 

“‘Tsumu!” Nakano sighed, wiping her mouth and walking over to the vending machine right across the doorway to the cafeteria, knowing her best friend had stopped in his tracks and was listening to her. She dropped a coin to purchase strawberry milk, a common favourite between the two, knowing he was going to melt one way or another. He had a tendency to be pretty soft hearted and simple minded. She put a straw inside, sipping some herself before sticking her hand out to the blonde who stared at her through the corner of his eyes, his eyebrows furrowed and a frown on his face. His hands were shoved in his pockets as he debated whether he should accept the generous gift or not. “Come on. I know how much you love it. You know you want it.” Nakano eyed him with a sly grin, hovering the can of strawberry milk around his eyes.

He stopped her by firmly grasping her wrist and looking into her eyes instead. It was like he was staring right into her soul. Takahashi could not help but scream internally at his touch and the eye contact. She nearly felt her soul leave her body when he brought her hand down, his fingers still wrapped around her wrist. Blood rushed to her cheeks as she looked away, biting her lower lip intently, waiting for him to say something. She hated the feeling of his fingers unwrapping themselves from her wrist as he grabbed the strawberry milk and angrily sipped on it. She couldn’t help but smile at the adorable sight, so she ruffled his hair slightly and he squirmed under her touch at first but quickly gave in. She was probably the only person who could get away with messing up his hair like this. 

“I can’t believe you’re seriously going on a date with that asshole,” The blonde shoved his free hand in his pocket, the other holding the can of strawberry milk as he darted his eyes ahead and started walking, signalling Nakano to walk with him as well. “I hate him.”

As much as Takahashi wanted to agree, it would probably go against of her accepting his offer for a date earlier. “It’s just one date. He can’t be that bad.” 

“Aren’t you ‘ _in love_ ’ with him?” He air quoted the words in a mocking manner as Nakano pinched the side of his arm which made him dramatically wince. “I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be more than one date.” 

“Not a big deal,” she snatched the milk and put her lips on the straw. He didn’t protest because they usually shared everything. “You know you’re still always going to be my favourite boy.” She jokingly winked at him while the ends of her lips lifted. She always tried to lightly flirt with her best friend, but seeing as how obviously ignorant he was to her flirtatious comments, he found them endearing instead of passes. She hoped maybe one day he would catch on to her, but she kept it up knowing how dumb Miya Atsumu can really be. The blonde couldn’t help but break a smile through his frown, pinching Nakano’s round cheeks as she laughed, jokingly slapping his fingers away. He flung his arm around her, and although she was used to him being touchy with her, she couldn’t help but furiously blush whenever he did so. It was annoying, because he did it out of comfort, and she was the one with internal panic, wishing she could just grab his face and kiss him and be able to call him her boyfriend. These little actions meant nothing to him, but meant the world to her. She wished he knew the effect he could have on her, sometimes. She cleared her throat.

“So, we’re good now?” She asked in a small voice, trying to not look at his face which was insufferable close to hers. She could feel his eyes on the side of her face before he decided to speak, “Only after you treat me to lunch.” 

She rolled her eyes, and Atsumu couldn’t help but grin at her, his eyes still on her side profile. “Whatever. After school?” It was taking everything in her to not turn around and just attach her lips to his. 

“Yes.”


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

Sitting across from Miya Atsumu, in a booth right near the window with the sun setting and two hot ramen bowls sitting peacefully in front of the two best friends was probably what Takahashi would describe as her happy place. They had been eating at her neighbour’s small restaurant ever since it began, which was probably when the two graduated junior high. _He looks so beautiful_ , Takahashi thought to herself. The dyed portion of his hair was shabby like always, with one strand falling on his forehead and interfering his eyesight slightly. He refused to push the strand away, which was starting to bother the girl in front of him. Her gaze fell down to his lips, that were blowing on the hot ramen before he devoured each bite. He was still in his practice jersey because of volleyball, and was slightly sweaty too. He refused to put a jacket like the girl had suggested, knowing he would catch a cold one day or another, but he was stubborn as hell, of course. She could look at him all day. 

She blinked herself back to reality at the door of the restaurant opening and a bell chiming on top of it, she began blowing at her own bowl, preparing her chopsticks. Before she knew it, her attention was now towards the couple that had just entered the restaurant, hand in hand, laughing about something she couldn’t decipher. They looked like college students. They cuddled up in the booth next to each other while looking at the menu, and Nakano couldn’t help but think about her and Atsumu cuddled up like that right about now. She felt a pang of envy, not that she knew the couple, but the fact that they were probably in love and could call themselves each other’s lovers. She wanted to do that with someone. That someone, of course, being Atsumu. 

Which reminded her that that’s how close Ren would plan to get with her on their ‘date.’ She mentally cursed herself for saying yes. But she wanted to save herself the humiliation in front of her best friend, and Ren in front of everyone else like she’d done the first time. Yukimi had congratulated her, but when Nakano had an expression of disgust on her face, the pink haired girl gave her an earful about how she needs to ‘move the fuck on,’ and focus on better boys. Her lecture extended when she learned that the two were going for lunch after school. Of course, to Takahashi, she tuned out most of Yukimi’s words. She was happy being blissfully unaware of her stupidity and continue to pine over the one boy she couldn’t have; her best friend. But seeing the sight in front of her, she knew it was all worth it. Spending time with the fake blonde was enough to send her over the clouds. 

“Yer ramen’s going to get cold, boke,” Atsumu said with half his mouth full. Nakano blinked and nodded her head absentmindedly, stirring the bowl with her chopsticks and finally eating. “What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing,” she said, looking at the couple she saw enter earlier, sitting behind them. Atsumu turned his head to peak at whatever the girl was gawking at. He scoffed, “Don’t worry, you’ll be like that with Ren pretty soon.” 

She furrowed her eyebrows and kicked his leg from underneath the table as he winced, “Hey!”

“Urusai, boke,” she said, her mouth full from the ramen noodles. “It’s not going to be like that.” 

“I still think you should consider cancelling the date.” This perked up her ears. 

“Why?”

“Are you seriously asking me that?” He had the same annoyed scowl on his face like the week prior. “He might be all ‘handsome,’ which I don’t think he is, personally, but he has little to no personality.” 

“How do you know? Have _you_ dated him before?” She looked at him and wiggled her eyebrows mockingly, a smug grin on her face but earned a kick on her right leg in response after which she groaned in pain. “What? ‘Tsumu! My legs aren’t as strong as yours, baka!” She whined as he simply smirked at the brown haired girl. She huffed and continued eating her ramen while he stared at her, her bangs covering her forehead perfectly, and the new earrings she’d bought in summer. Her mouth was surrounded with the soup and noodle stains, which looked rather adorable, while her soft fingers held the chopsticks in them. He wasn’t surprised that Ren had given another shot at asking her out. She was perfect. He cleared his throat and shrugged, tearing his gaze away from the beautiful girl in front of him to a much less pleasant site of the half empty ramen bowl. 

“I hope you know how annoying you are,” the blonde commented earning a glare in response. “You’re lucky you’re cute.” 

Takahashi froze. Was that a flirtatious comment? There’s no doubt that Atsumu has called her pretty before, indirectly of course, or rather in a completely platonic and casual sentence, but this sounded less... friendly, and more like what the hero says to his love interest in slice of life mangas. Or maybe she was overthinking again and should probably forget about this comment and simply roll her eyes. She pretended to cough, clearing her throat right after, wiping her mouth, suddenly becoming cautious of his gaze on her. Their eyes locked for one moment before both of them tore away. The silence was more awkward than the usual comfortable one, because Atsumu wasn’t smiling, he looked rather blunt, like he was stating a fact. Not knowing how to react, she scoffed, “You’re lucky I don’t have big muscles or else I’d have strangled you a long time ago.” 

“Wrong. You love me too much.” 

_If only you knew_ , she thought to herself silently, chuckling. Atsumu returned her reaction with a smug grin. If only he had any idea of how much she was actually in love with him. How she was dying to hold his hands in public, being able to call him her boyfriend, kiss him on the lips whenever she wanted, keep any girl who showed any interest in him away from them, so he would stop meaninglessly flirting with them in front of her. He had no idea how much she craved to have him in her arms, when she could remind him at least five times each day that she was in love with him, because no matter how many times she would admit it, it just won’t be enough. But instead, her response was short and feisty, mocking him. “In your dreams, pissboy.” 

His smile was replaced with a scowl again, his eyebrows knitting together as a tick grew on his forehead. “Don’t call me that, boke! How many times do I have to tell you!” She laughed at his expression, and his tendency to appear cuter when he was annoyed or mad, so she pinched his cheeks. “You’re the one with piss blonde hair. Who did you think you were going to look like? Scarlett Johansson? Brad Pitt?” Her laughter roared louder, she was barely able to contain herself as she looked at his expression grow even more vexed and he huffed like an angry baby. “It’s a _trend_! I’m sorry that _you_ lack taste!” It made her chuckle even more. Her laughter didn’t fade, so after a minute, Atsumu’s features softened as he joined. Her laughter was so endearing and contagious, the way her eyes completely shut and her cheeks got all flushed. The sound itself was beautiful. The two laughed for a good minute until it faltered, as they resumed eating until the bowls were clean empty. 

“How do you do that?” Atsumu asked when comfortable silence took over once again after they were done laughing their hearts out. “Do what?” She asked, puzzled. 

“Put me in a better mood by being your stupid self. I don’t know how, or why, but you just make me smile.” 

Yes, she was aware that he had called her stupid, but she also knew he hardly means it when he does. What mattered is the rest of his sentence. It seemed to light up her day even more than it already had been because of him, and she was happy that she was the reason he was smiling. A blush quickly rose to her cheeks, as she dramatically clutched to her chest. She looked away, smiling as if there was an invisible hanger stuck in her mouth. 

“You make me smile too, Atsumu.” _Even when you’re not around_ , _the thought of you makes me smile,_ was what she wanted to add after that statement but bit back her words, a smile not leaving either of their faces. He chuckled and ruffled her hair, as the two continued chatting the evening away. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m just building up the story line so I apologise for the cringe in advance, I don’t even know what this is.

The word to describe the next few days was uneventful. Hardly much had happened other than Takahashi working on her song lyrics with Yua, the usual yearning for Atsumu's undivided affection, the envy brought to her by him relentlessly flirting with his fangirls. It was starting to get annoying. More so, he was doing it more often than he normally did. Usually, Nakano just pretended it wasn't happening, or simply ignored his pathetically cheesy comments that totally seemed to be working because the girls looked floored and a blushing mess. In all honesty, if anyone else would have tried to make passes at her in the same way, she would have laughed in their faces. Much like what happened with Ren, because he was really pushing his luck this time. He even insisted to sit with her during lunch, and it was even harder to deny it with everyone including Atsumu staring at them, what with everything that had happened previously. Yukimi, being a little brat, agreed on Takahashi's behalf, which put her in the uncomfortable situation of being seated between the boy she loved and the boy she loathed. Her blonde best friend made his discomfort and disgust pretty clear, by scoffing at every cheesy compliment Ren would make towards Nakano, and visibly rolling his eyes at the poor attempt at flirting. The brown-haired girl could feel his intense glares on the side of her face.

If she did not know any better, she would say it was out of envy that he was paying more attention to his fangirls than he usually did. It was not far-fetched to declare that they practically had no other outstanding events in their lives rather than pining for the attention that the Miya twins had to offer. Not that she was any different. She essentially did the same, except, she held the best friend card, and had a life and accomplishments of her own. But of course, no matter how simple-minded Miya Atsumu was, he had the tiniest tendency of being unpredictable some times. She did not know if it was evident that she was annoyed, so she tried her best to hide it behind fake laughter and getting closer to Ren, the one thing she had her doubts about. There was no doubt that she still could not stand his guts, but he was slightly funny when his guard was down and he could be. 

And hence, came the day of the much awaited date between Ren and Nakano. Awaited for Nakano meant that she could finally get it over with and never speak about it again, and for Ren, it meant that he would finally have the chance to know the girl better. After all, she was the spunkiest second year at Inarizaki High. There was no doubt that she was popular, and for number of reasons. One being that she was an excellent singer, as she had proved in the preliminary competition in her first year, even though her band had not exactly gotten through. Second being that she was 'friends' with the star volleyball player, Miya Atsumu. Ren thought he was overrated and not at all worth the extreme praise he always got, and found him obnoxious at best. But, he figured, since he planned on going out with his best friend, that he would have to put up with the fake blonde. In fact, he was more than determined to pursue her, taking her 'yes' to his proposal as an encouragement. He had been captivated ever since he heard that melodious voice of hers, and her feisty personality along with a soft appearance did more than enough to increase his attraction. However, the first rejection did dampen his spirits, he did not need to trudge on the past. What mattered is that she was here, sitting in front of him, inside a relatively expensive restaurant which happened to be one of his favourites, looking as breathtaking as ever. He chose to ignore her disinterest in her features.

"How come you agreed on a date this time? I figured, you know, you hated me and stuff," He attempted to strike a conversation while Nakano avoided eye contact while bumping her leg constantly underneath the table. His voice led her to avert her gaze towards the boy in front of her with slicked back raven hair, who looked comparatively less shabby as he did in school. He did a decent job cleaning up, though, she would never admit that to his face. She squinted, "Then why did you ask me out a second time? I just didn't want to put you through the humiliation again." She shrugged, looking bored. He chuckled, looking at her in amusement. He would have told her it was because her friend practically asked him to, but he could have rejected that proposition if he wanted. The only reason he did agree was because he wanted this more than anything else. "You really are something, aren't you? You don't have to play hard to get with me." He said, in a deep voice, flashing one of his charming smiles that could melt any other woman, Nakano, of course, being an exception to that fact. She shot him a look which widened his smirk. Before she could spring another retort, the waiter returned to the table with their dishes, and this seemed to put the girl in a better mood. She was starving. She eyed the fish hungrily before indulging herself in the meal, meanwhile, Ren had the same amused look in his eyes. 

"You're cute." He genuinely complimented her, and she rolled her eyes, taking another bite of her dish. "I'm really not. I don't even understand your interest in me."

He looked at her, puzzled, with wide eyes. "You sure are modest. You're gorgeous. Why do you think I asked you out first? It's usually the girls who confess their undying love for me, you know." He ran his clean fingers through his hair with a smug grin plastered on his face. His cocky behaviour caused her to scoff at him. "Thanks, I'm honoured that you chose me." Sarcasm was laced in every word, yet he just chuckled. She could not help but find the sight slightly adorable, but she mentally slapped herself for that observation, which is why a smile almost made it to her lips. Almost. 

"How's your Spring Concert thing preparation going?" He asked out of interest, and it was evident. Nakano made a mental note that he was not forcing a conversation in spite of her clear lack of interest in the 'date'. He was fluid in carrying a conversation and seemed genuinely curious about whatever was happening in her life. She shrugged for the tenth time. "It's alright. We’re practising an original song that I wrote to get through the preliminary round."

"You write your own songs?" He asked, in awe. _She's more talented than I give her credit for_ , he thought to himself. "That's, like, awesome."

To this, Nakano scratched the back of her neck, chuckling modestly. She loved it when someone complimented her abilities and talents, it was refreshing. But she quickly turned her attention to her fish and cleared her throat. She made up for her soft expression with her mocking words, "Thanks. But listing my qualities isn't gonna get you anywhere with me." Her eyes finally met Ren's for the first time since the date began, as she drank some water. For some reason, the action was rather attractive to him, and he found himself smirking again, eyeing her lips as she licked them. She did not mean to make the gesture this... flirtatious, but it sure seemed like it. She didn't consider herself very smooth, and she lacked game, as Atsumu so politely put it, so she was proud of herself for simply maintaining eye contact. She thought, since she was on the date, she might as well enjoy some of it. Suddenly, looking at Ren's current expression, she was reminded of Atsumu's face contorting the same features while speaking to one of his fangirls, and that was more than enough to light up the fire of envy mixed with confidence. 

"Then what will?" His eyes made sure to hold Nakano's gaze this time. His question was persistent, as if he was eager to know what he could do to win her heart over from whomever it was that Yukimi had stated she liked. He believed in his charm, but what intrigued him was that it never worked on the second year in front of him. He enjoyed the fact that it was not going to be easy. Pretty cliche, but he liked every bit of this interaction. He stared at her intently, waiting for an actual response. She held his gaze, looking like she was in deep thought, as if contemplating a response. She blinked twice, looking at the now empty plate in front of her and then back to her date. 

"Find out for yourself."

Ren's smirk remained as he cocked a brow, leaning ahead. "Only if you want me to, sweetheart."

Takahashi's flirty expression turned into a nose scrunch. "Yikes, you had to ruin the moment by calling me that."

"Not a fan of nicknames, I see?"

"It's not that, we're just not there yet. Honestly, I did not plan on doing this with you again," She licked her lips again, boldly spurting out the truth. She patted the napkin on her lips, wiping off the imaginary food around it. "But maybe you're not all that bad."

"Oh? What made you change your mind? Care to enlighten me, _sweetheart_?" He mocked her, waiting for a retort but she just shot him a glare, paying it no attention. "You're annoying, but I think you just try to be cool. I'd like it if you toned it down a little." Her words were sharp and her tone, curt. It was like she was providing a psycho-analysis. "You're good at holding a conversation, and you're not bad looking, but I'll be honest, it's gonna take a lot more to actually affect me. You see, I like someone else." _'Like' isn't even the word_ , she thought silently. "I don't want to give you any false hopes about... us, in the future."

His confident persona had faltered, now looking genuinely puzzled at her words. He knew she liked someone else, and did not intend to throw himself and her friend under the bus by letting her know that he was aware, but when she admits it herself, it stings a little bit. What did this other person have that he didn't? It did not make any sense that the girl in front of him was completely immune to his charm. It made him want her more. He wanted to talk himself out of this, because he had every intention to take her out as many times as he could. "So, whoever this... person is, do they like you back?" 

Nakano blinked. She had not expected her curt response to invite personal questions, so her attempt to shut him down came undone. She looked away, and her frown did more than enough to give the answer away, as she shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "That has nothing to do with you, really." 

"Just curious. Because since you're so loyal to this person, it can only mean that they do like you back. Which brings me back to the fact that you even agreed to go out with me in the first place. You didn't say no, which clearly means something else. And I don't think you like me enough to pass a chance of humiliating me. So which one is it?"

Nakano looked at him dumbfounded. He might seem like an airhead, but he sure did put some thought into any situation or even his words. She was slightly taken aback as she simply blinked at him for a good minute. His smug face was intact, which made her want to punch it off. She hated when somebody challenged her and forced her to think of an immediate response as a head-scratcher. Her confused face turned to an irritated one. "Does it matter? I just don't want to lead you on." 

"It matters," he narrowed his gaze and licked his dry lips. He wanted to push the truth out of her. "I feel involved already. You _are_ on a date with me."

This made her heave a sigh as she rubbed her temples. "You're right. I shouldn't have done this. I don't know why I did. I still like this person, in fact, I like him a lot. But he's infuriating. He does all these things, at this point it feels like it's all on purpose, or maybe I'm just giving myself too much importance. And to answer your question, no, I do not think he likes me that way. I know that will never happen, and here I am, still head over heels for him. You know, I just don't understand. What do all these other girls have that I don't? I know they mean nothing to him, but I'm sick of pretending that I'm okay watching from the sidelines. It's frustrating. I wish he could see, but he doesn't. Of course, he doesn't owe me anything, but, like, it'd be nice, you know what I mean?" She hadn't realised she had blabbered for good two minutes, as Ren just stared in amusement with his chin in his right palm. He seemed to be absorbing all of these words while admiring how endearing and beautiful she looked while going off about something. "Jeez, sorry. Nobody wants to hear that on a date."

"So, you were trying to get back at this guy, with me, subconsciously?" He asked, ignoring her previous statement. She looked at him, shocked, and with a dramatic expression, but he squinted his eyes with a matter-of-factly look, and she groaned, rolling her eyes. "Alright, fine, okay? Don't be so full of it." He laughed. It was a deep, throaty laugh, and his entire face seemed to light up when he did, which caused a smile to creep up to Nakano's face as well as she joined him. The two laughed together, but once it faded, she was reminded of the moment she had with Atsumu the other day. She sighed. "I didn't mean to drag you into this. You have nothing to do with me, we've never interacted as much before like we did this week, so."

"But I enjoy talking with you. You're funny and you're kind of adorable. So, I don't really mind."

Her eyes widened before she sheepishly glanced at the third year. _He really isn’t that bad_ , she thought to herself. Maybe he was just trying to fit into his cool boy persona at school, or maybe not, but now that she was actually getting to know him, she decided that it wasn’t the worst thing ever. She had overestimated how much she’d absolutely hate the few hours she’d be spending with him. 

“If you want, I can help you.” He suddenly spoke after a minute of comfortable silence. He cleared his throat and leaned further in. “I am okay with you using me to get back at this guy you like.” 

She knitted her eyebrows together, her lips forming an ‘o’ shape, and lightly punched his arm that had little to no effect on him. “What does that even mean?”

“I’m just saying, I don’t mind, as long as I get to spend time with you.” 

“You’re a simp.” 

He rolled his eyes, smiling right after. “You think I’m going to let a girl as beautiful as you slip away from me? It’s not everyday somebody intrigues me like you have. So, even if I can’t have your complete attention, I’m fine with you using me to your heart’s content.” He wiggled his eyebrows, a smirk forming on his lips as she punched his arm again, groaning. “You sound like a pervert.” 

He winked at her, to which she widened her eyes and leaned back in her seat. She considered his generous proposal, figured it would probably be the prettiest thing for her to do, but what was highschool without these experiences? It was about time her life became as dramatic in a fanfiction-esque way. And nobody ever makes decisions in their right mind when someone provoked them like Atsumu did Nakano. “Don’t you have better things to do?”

“I do. But if you drop by my practices and hang out with me during lunch we’ll be doing enough.” 

“ _Drop by your practices_? I’m not your friend or anything.” She scoffed, folding her arms against her chest. “Then how do you expect to make this dude jealous?” 

“Lunch is fine. I’ll think about coming to your practice, because I usually have my own club to attend.” 

“Then I’ll drop by your club! Oh, it’s perfect!” She gave him a puzzled look. “I could even walk you home.”

”No!” She knew it would be a recipe for disaster, and Atsumu would not have it. He raised a brow. “‘Tsumu, ‘Samu and Yukimi already walk with me after school. I won’t need you.” 

“Fine,” he huffed. “Lunch it is then.” Nakano squinted her eyes at the boy and then rolled her eyes. 

“I like how I make your eyes roll all the time.” 

That earned him a kick underneath the table and an expression of disgust from Nakano. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You might want to listen to 505 by arctic monkeys while reading this chapter.

The weekend came quickly, and Takahashi knew it would get over in the blink of an eye as it usually does. But much to the contrary, the Saturday morning started slow as she woke up at 11 am, which is much earlier than what she likes, especially on the weekends. In a hazy state of mind, she had another argument with her mother about how unclean her room has become, while having breakfast. Her father pretended to tune out of the conversation, chuckling quietly while earning a glare from Nakano as she angrily stuffed her cereal in her mouth. She wasn’t a morning person, obviously. 

“ _Dad_ , I need to get my guitar strings fixed today so I’ll be going to the guitar shop.” She said, irritated as her mother gave her a look while setting the dishes in the dishwasher. Before he could answer, she dried her hands and turned to the girl again, “Isn’t that on the other side of the town? You’ll have to take the bus.” 

Nakano rolled her eyes, “So what? I’ll go. It’s not a big deal. It’s not like you’re gonna buy me a new guitar, mother. Unless you are?” She wiggled her eyebrows with a playful grin on her face that earned her a bonk on the head and her father laughing in the background. “Do you have to be like this, mom?” She groaned, rubbing her forehead while furrowing her eyebrows. 

The girl quickly finished her breakfast to get ready to go to the guitar shop. It was going to be a half an hour ride, at most, and she planned on having the day to herself where she could have some peace of mind without Yukimi annoying her or Atsumu making her heart flutter at every chance he got. He, of course, lived in her head rent free and did not plan on leaving anytime soon, although Nakano wished he would. She was then reminded of her date the previous day, and the crazy fact that she’d actually considered giving Suzuke Ren the time of her day. But if she said he wasn’t even the slightest bit of an amusing company, she would be lying. He was a character, perhaps they could even be friends at some point, however that seemed like quite a stretch because Atsumu would kill her if she ever forced him to be friendly with the third year. 

She sighed as she walked out of the bathroom, drying her wet hair with a soft towel as the chilly air greeted her making her realise her air conditioner was still on. Just as she hopped towards the other side of the room, her phone went off with a ‘ping’ followed by two or three more pings in a row. She furrowed her eyebrows and sat on the edge of her bed, opening two texts from Atsumu and one text from Ren. She groaned, realising she had swapped numbers with him at the end of the date for some very odd reason, and now she was going to have to deal with his cheesy texts every now and then. For now, she chose to leave him on read so he got the hint, loud and clear. Yet, she happily slid on Atsumu’s contact to see what he wanted to say.   
  


> _What are you doing right now?  
>   
> _
> 
> _We can hang out today if you want._

She cocked a brow. Did she really want company today? She did have plans to enjoy some alone time so that she could work on her song and getting her old guitar fixed for the fifth time now simply because her mother refused to get her a new one unless she magically scores straight A’s in the next exam. But then again, this was Atsumu. As if she’d pass an opportunity to spend time with the love of her life. She hated how he had her wrapped around his little finger with being completely oblivious of the fact. Or maybe she could play hard to get, not that it mattered in the slightest to him because she knew he wouldn’t care if they didn’t see each other for one day, but he’d been pretty restless since she went out with Ren, constantly texting her reminders that if something goes wrong he’d be the first one to punch the hell out of the third year. 

> _I’m going to Fushiguru’s guitar shop so might not be able to hang out today._

She bit her lip as she sent the text. Of course, she wanted to spend her time with the blonde. If she could, she’d spend every day and every minute in his company because he made her that happy. But she had to stand her ground, with all the pettiness brewing inside of her, and emotions of jealousy along with irritation because of him being a flirt to everyone else but her, a little too much these days. It was slowly starting to hurt her, this whole one-sided love thing. It was fine when he would reject any confession coming his way and the fact that Nakano was the only girl he cared enough about to spend his time with, simply because they’d been best friends for years. But the beginning of the second year has been somewhat rocky for her feelings for the boy. She wanted him to miss her too, and realise that she might not always be there on his call. And since their mid terms were approaching, along with the preliminary rounds right after, she had a considerable amount of things on her plate. 

> _I’m coming with._

She looked at his response, smiling at it slightly. She liked that he liked spending time with her too, even if it was completely platonic. When he showed these efforts, she’d forget all her annoyance and negative thoughts that occupied her mind due to her one sided emotions. She simply shrugged at the text, not bothering to reply, stuffing the phone along with her earphones in the front pocket of her guitar case. She changed into some clean underwear, fresh white skirt and a neatly ironed sweatshirt on top, after which she slid her legs into comfortable white stockings. 

She grabbed her guitar and placed it in her baby blue case - one that got made fun of by nearly everyone who knew her because it seemed childish to own a colourful guitar with unicorns on it - but it was a birthday gift from her late grandfather and she loved him far too much to disrespect his gift. It reminded her of her childhood and simpler times, and it signalled his presence with her at all times. Not many of her friends know about that fact, only the Miya twins, who were there with her at the funeral when she was a crying mess, trying to console her the best they could. She grinned at the case and slid her hand through the strap - it was like second nature now - and headed downstairs, out of the house, kissing her parents goodbye. 

The minute she set foot outside of her house, she saw an all too familiar fake blonde with a beautiful smile on his gorgeous face and a loose black t-shirt hanging around what Nakano suspected to be a perfectly carved body. It only made sense, given how much volleyball he plays. _Oh, how I’d love to rip that right off of you_ , she thought to herself but quickly caught herself from slipping and bonked herself at the sudden, intrusive thought. She flashed a smile of her own, trying to make it as charming as possible, but she hardly smiled just for the sake of it. He jogged to her and slung his arm over her shoulder, pulling her close, and she could smell the scent of fresh cherry blossoms mixed with some gum, which was an odd combination but she loved it because it belonged to Atsumu. _Maybe he changed his soap_ , she thought, because he usually smelled a lot like sandalwood. She cursed herself silently, almost rolling her eyes at the sheer creepiness of the fact that she knows what he smells like. 

“Boke, you left me on read,” was how he greeted her on this lovely Saturday morning. Her smile faded as she rolled her eyes and sighed, pinching his cheeks to which he dramatically winced at. “I could’ve gone myself.” 

“Urusai, Naka-chan,” He ruffled her hair, pulling her closer to him as they walked a little bit to the bus stop. “Is that a new skirt?” He said all of a sudden, looking down, his gaze lingering at her exposed lower thighs and knees, the latter half of her legs covered in white stockings. His gaze made her feel nervous and now she felt highly aware of her exposed skin. She hadn’t really thought much of wearing a skirt in front of Atsumu since the girl’s uniform at Inarizaki High consisted of one too, but this one was slightly shorter, and the stockings barely reached her knees. In school, it’s mandatory to wear stockings that reach the inner thighs. She chuckled nervously. 

“I got it in summer, when Yukimi-chan and I went shopping.” He averted his eyes back to her side profile, realising his face was too close, and simply hummed in response at the recollection, because he had thrown a fit when Nakano chose Yukimi to spend the day with rather than him. Of course, she’d won him over with her spicy ramen treat, like always. His eyes lingered on Nakano’s lashes, going down to her lips as she talked, but he immediately looked away. “It’s nice.” Was all he said to which she chuckled giddily.

They soon reached the bus stop and waited, realising there was only one person there besides them, her being an old lady who looked rather kind, because she flashed the duo a warm smile which they returned. The two sat on the bench, Takahashi carefully laying her guitar case against the bench, while taking out her headphones from the front pocket and shoving it in her ears after plugging them to her phone. Atsumu squinted at her and cleared his throat, signalling that he wanted to listen to music too, so she passed one of the buds to him. She started playing an arctic monkeys song - one she was sure he’d never heard - and of course, he gave her a confused look. 

“I’m not playing some shitty J-pop song, ‘Tsumu.” She said in a matter-of-factly tone. He groaned. “We both know my music taste is way better than yours. Now shut up and listen, it’s a good song.” 

“It’s English!” He protested, huffing loudly. “Your English sucks, it could use some listening practice.” She winked at him mockingly, earning a bonk to the head and she winced, kicking his leg as a response. That was enough to shut him up as they continued enjoying 505 by arctic monkeys. The wait for the bus was short, and the pair, along with the old lady, got on the bus quickly, catching two empty seats at the back of the bus since most of the bus was empty. Takahashi resumed the song as she sat right next to the window - Atsumu always saved the window seat for her whenever they travelled by bus to the other side of town - it was her favourite.

She simply looked outside the window hazily, her heart fluttering and racing the fastest when he laid his head on her shoulder and took her hand in his, intertwining their fingers. She felt like she was going to collapse, but made it seem like the gesture was absolutely nonchalant to her. Her face was as red as a tomato, anybody could tell, and she was probably lucky that Atsumu wasn’t looking at her directly. She feared that her palm would become all sweaty and he would detach his hand from hers, but he stayed still, looking at nothing in particular, as the song played faintly in their ears. He liked it, she knew it, because she saw him tapping his foot at the beat of the chorus. She smiled lightly, fighting the urge to kiss his soft lips as he hummed to the tune, unsure of the lyrics and what they meant. She wanted more of his touch. She ran her free hand through his soft, blonde hair when he looked up at her and she immediately retracted, looking away, extremely embarrassed but he caught her wrist and simply guided it through his hair himself. She was taken aback at first but then he spoke, “It feels nice.” She could hear the smile in his voice, so she continued doing what she was about to, and played with his hair gently for a little bit. 

All the while, her heart was hammering against her chest and she was thankful to them listening to music so that Atsumu couldn’t hear her heart racing at him and his stupid, charming little gestures. She wondered how amazing it would be if the same was happening to him, but that would be asking for too much from even god himself. Of course it wasn’t true.

Or so she thought.


End file.
